The "God-incidences"

That's what we started calling them - "God-incidences" - when the Lord started speaking to us about Foster/Adopting.  They were consistent in our lives starting in January of 2013 all the way through June - too regular and too direct to be coincidences, so we knew the Lord was speaking to us and guiding us in a new and fresh way.  Some of them were crazy, some of them were just plain funny - and as we wait for May to approach, I want to share some of them with you!

One of the first big ones was on a date night.  I had coffee that Friday morning with a friend. She and her husband have two kids of their own, and they were in the process of adopting their first daughter out of the foster system - it was the first time I was really able to talk to someone walking ahead of us in this journey, and it was so helpful!  I got a lot of questions answered, saw how big the binder really is (This binder is huge!  Serenity gives it to families who foster, and it has all the rules and regulations of fostering.), and got to hear first-hand from her how much this choice is a ministry to the kids and their families.  So good!

That same Friday night, Dan and I went to Lucille's BBQ for date night.  A yummy splurge for us!  We sit down, and Dan says, "So?  Tell me all about it!  What did she say?"  I tell him everything, and we start to discuss what it would look like if we were to foster/adopt.  Looking back, we actually decided some big things that night during that conversation:
- We would want two sibling boys: The state is in desperate need to place siblings together.  We want an even number of kids.  We still have a desire on our hearts to have sons. With a family of ALL girls (no seriously - ALL girls.  I am one of 6 girl cousins, who have 7 daughters total among us.  My grandmother just had her 15th girl in a row last year!  On Dan's side, again, 7 girls. Wouldn't it just be cruel to bring ONE boy - the youngest - into these two families?  If we are going to bring a boy into this family, at least two will have each other in the craziness!), and we just had peace about this decision.
- We would want the kids to be around the same age as our girls: Keep Kate the oldest if we could, but they would all be in the same stages and grades and schools together.  Because we both work full time, we didn't feel right about taking on a baby (which most likely would be a high-needs baby at that).
- Full disclosure: We didn't feel called or equipped to take on physically or mentally handicapped kids.  There are people who are so good at and passionate about these kids, and the Lord bless them!  With two of our own, and me being a working mom, this was something we didn't feel called to.
- We are open to any and all ethnicities.

Looking back, we didn't really know what a big step in the process we had made that night, but as time went on, these decisions were solidified strongly.  SO...we finished dinner, and decided to leave the conversation behind us and go enjoy a movie.

There wasn't much playing that night, so we decided to go see "Identity Theft" with Jason Bateman.  We were hesitant because of the rating, but were up for a good laugh.  (For the record, it was one of those oh-so-funny, redeeming movies that absolutely didn't need to be rated R.  It was a few words and one awkward scene away from being a great movie...)  Now forgive me (spoiler alert!) for ruining the movie for you, but the entire thing builds up to this pivotal scene of dialogue about why the main character is the way she is, and why she's such a lonely, miserable wreck.  She is finally honest for the first time in the film, and her answer is, "Well it started when my mom abandoned me in the hospital.  I spent my childhood shuffled through the foster system, and when I was 18 I was on my own and had nobody.  I've never had anybody."

Wait a minute.  Hold the phone.  This whole movie is a redemptive story about a lonely foster child who comes to finally have a family and people who care about her, and love and accept her in spite of her faults or her past?  WHAT??

Dan and I leave the theater during the credits, and whisper, "Did that just happen?  Is God speaking to us through movies now?"  We just chuckled the entire ride home.  If that wasn't a confirmation after the conversation we just had, we didn't know what was!

Does God speak through movies?  He's the author of the whole universe, and everything He makes and does is trying to tell us how much He loves us!  I think the question isn't "does God speak to us through movies", I think the statement is that God is always speaking to our hearts.  The question is, how often are we listening?  This process has caused Dan and I to listen to the Lord in a new and unique way.  The message wasn't what we were expecting.  (In fact, the question we were asking Him at the beginning of last year was, "How and where will the Lord put us back into formal church ministry after taking a hiatus to have two little ones?")  His answer was surprising - we aren't going back into formal church ministry - we are going to expand our family for His glory and to expand His kingdom!

Here's to the adventure that is obeying that call.  :)

Our New Adventure -

Last time I updated this blog, Kate was turning 2.  She's now 3 1/2!!  Chloe turned 2 at Thanksgiving, and the Lord has asked us to turn aside and take a different direction with our family.  So...we're back to blogging!  :)

As most of you know, Dan and I are in the process of becoming foster parents through Serenity Infant Care Homes in Covina.  As we get closer to finishing the certification process, both of us have felt a need to start asking for prayer from you - our family and friends.  So here's my attempt to start blogging again, using this platform to share our story and prayer requests with all of you!  We would greatly appreciate your prayers on behalf of our family!  Thanks for all the love and support we've received from so many of you so far!

And now for some details:
- As of now, the plan is to be placed in early May.  I (Kristi) plan on taking a month off to bond with the boys after APU's graduation - this is a slow time for our office and a good time for me to take off.  Then when Dan is off for his summer break, he will be home with the kids for June and July.  Would you pray this timing works out and we can use the summer wisely to get our family adjusted?  Pray for good, quality time together, getting to know each other and learn how to be the best family unit we can be.

- Yes, we've told the girls, and so far Kate is (mostly) excited to get some brothers. :)  Kate can articulate that the spare bedroom will be the "boy's room" and that it will be fun to have more kids around.  Would you pray for our girl's hearts?  Would you pray they would be open to this big change, and see the Lord work in all of us as we obey Him?

- Yes, we are fostering first...we won't know for a good long while if adoption is a possibility with our first placement.  There is a good chance we won't be able to adopt our first placement...that's just the way the foster system works.  (If you want to know more about the process, we would LOVE to share that with you sometime!  But it is a lot of information, so I'm not going to share it here.)  But would you pray for those two little boys?  Would you pray the Lord would protect them from trauma?  Would you pray for their little hearts and minds?  Would you pray their transition into our home (whether they want it or not) to be a smooth one and a happy one?  Would you pray they are open to Jesus' love?

- And for now, my last prayer request is one we've had for several months now - simply, that Dan and I would get good sleep.  Our girls (for numerous, varying reasons) have not been sleeping well the last few months.  They slept so well as babies, and neither Dan or I function well with little sleep.  This lack of sleep has a way of discouraging us and making us think we surely are not capable of taking on more kids.  Would you pray not only for more sleep, but for clear thinking for us when we are tired?  OF COURSE we can't take on more kids!  (Well, not in our own strength...)  Of course we are going to have to rely on God's grace every single day of this process!  That just gets harder to do when we are so tired. 

Dan and I are going to both try to keep this blog up in order to share our journey with you - thank you in advance for your prayers - they are the most powerful support you could give our family this year!  Until the next update, what leaps of faith is Jesus asking you to take today?